The electric buses struggle with battery capacity. It has become especially clear this winter. 80 percent of the bus fleet in Oslo is currently electric. At the same time, winter is colder than in a long time. This has led to bus chaos. On the worst day – 8 January – almost 1,000 departures were cancelled. Trouble with two tenders On Wednesday, Ruter explained himself to Oslo’s transport politicians. Managing director Bernt Reitan Jenssen said that the electric buses themselves are not the problem, but the electric buses linked to two specific bus tenders. It concerns Oslo’s inner city and Oslo’s northeast. They started up in April and December respectively last year. Both are run by Unibuss with buses from Spanish Solaris and German MAN. – They simply use more electricity per kilometer than they are promised they will, said Reitan Jenssen. Thought they had taken it in. Technical director of Unibuss, Henrik Anderberg, tells news that he was surprised when it turned out that the batteries lost so much of their capacity in the cold. He says that they received theoretical calculations from the suppliers based on what kind of temperature and weather the buses will run in and what the route looks like. So Unibuss itself added a buffer of between 40 and 50 per cent to be on the safe side. – My technical staff and I hoped we had taken it in. We were convinced that a buffer of 50 per cent would hold, says Anderberg. Technical director at Unibuss, Henrik Anderberg. Photo: Unibuss – Do you do anything about the bus suppliers after these problems have arisen? – The most important thing for us now is to work for our passengers, he says. Working with doors To improve the range, Unibus works along two tracks, says the technical director. One goes to the technical side. The second is how the buses are driven. The measures to save electricity in the cold can be summarized as follows: Lowering the temperature inside the bus down to what is specified by Ruter, namely 13 degrees. Looking at “regeneration” of energy, i.e. that the battery is charged when the bus slows down or brakes. To work with door solutions so that so much cold does not enter the bus stops. To train the drivers to drive more softly and economically and only open the doors that are needed. – A lot of cold air enters through the doors, which must be heated, says Henrik Anderberg. Hen is convinced that the measures will improve the reach. – Yes, definitely. But I cannot promise that it will be so much better that we will be able to deliver 100 percent. – Will not persist He also says that the problems are unlikely to persist beyond the spring, as Ruter fears. Ruter is concerned that the problems are linked to the buses they have bought, and may persist beyond the winter season, said Bernt Reitan Jenssen on Wednesday. CEO of Ruter, Bernt Reitan Jenssen. Photo: Beate Oma Dahle / NTB This concern is not shared by Henrik Anderberg at Unibuss. He points out that the first of the two tenders started in April. – We had a number of challenges at the start, but the regularity after the summer was very good. We got worried when the weather got colder in late autumn and winter. – So this is a problem linked to the cold, he says.
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Unibuss takes measures to improve the range of the electric buses in the cold – Greater Oslo
